If You Can’t Beat Them, Join Them - 1
Collaboration.
Joint project.
Cooperation.
It all sounded lovely enough.
In a modern society worn raw by competition, what could be more admirable than two sides clasping hands and deciding to pull together? It was, in effect, a declaration of alliance.
Not the world of sickles and hammers.
Even in capitalism, it still counted as a virtue.
But...
That changed when it was written down in a document.
It was the difference between a friend asking, “Got any spare change?” in front of a claw machine, and a delinquent cornering you in a narrow alley with the same words.
The letters were identical.
The meaning behind them was not.
“...”
On Tuesday morning, I sat at the outdoor table in front of a convenience store and read through the document again.
ABCD x RD2
Aurora Prism Entertainment Production Division
The stack of papers, dozens of pages thick, was covered in words so deliberately ambiguous they might as well have been lacquered on. If anyone tried to pin them down legally, they could all be waved away as “a matter of interpretation.”
And yet the intent still leaked through, thin but unmistakable.
[...Centered on ABCD, we would like to “jointly” host a special showcase with Romantic Drive...]
[Based on this “joint project,” we hope to create mutual synergy and new marketing effects for your company...]
[Through the two companies’ “collaborative” experience, we can strengthen each other’s brand value...]
In plain language, it was something like:
-What exactly are you people?
-Let us see your hand too.
-Are you seriously making your money by digging in the ground?
That was the gist of it.
It was a signal sent moments before the feeding began, a way of checking the other side’s weight.
The language was maddeningly rational.
And feminine.
“...”
Whoever was behind this, I could almost picture them from the paper alone.
Probably a sharp young team leader who had learned mergers and acquisitions in the States, come back to Korea, and clawed their way through the elite track so fast they had no time left for anything human. The sort of person who stayed up all night drawing up strategy and then delivered this to me as if it were the obvious next step.
And yet they were aiming at the VTuber market?
It was reckless to the point of being unhinged.
A lone-wolf type with a taste for experimentation.
Not the kind of person who drew people in naturally. If someone like that had made team leader in a conglomerate, then they either had executive blood in their veins or came from one of the founding families.
Maybe some executive’s granddaughter came back from the States after running the royal-road track there, causing trouble everywhere she went and driving too fast the whole way home?
“...”
At the very least, it definitely wasn’t a monster living at the top.
The way monsters did things was different from the smell alone.
In their world, if a sudden “market variable” showed up, the fastest solution was usually to remove it physically. In that sense, scandal and Incheon’s shoreline stood closer to them than the law did.
But this side had not done that.
I was certain of it again.
What lay beyond the paperwork was a person.
“Then...”
I set the papers down on the table.
“...”
There wasn’t much I needed to do by hand.
If the other side moved honestly according to market logic...
then this was a showdown between a VTuber company and another VTuber company’s very honest probe.
It was still ABCD’s fight.
“...”
All I had to do was prepare the bullets they could fire.
As soon as I confirm the sturdy structure of Big Plan A Company and Off Entertainment, I can just pull back and revise the strategy. At the very least, A-yeong won’t be put in danger. Still, I should throw out a counterpunch so they’ll think twice before pressing too hard.
Thinking that, I slid the stack of papers into a yellow document envelope.
Thud.
Romantic Drive, huh. I ought to go see them at least once.
It helped to know what kind of world they were living in.
What kind of atmosphere they had.
...
“I see.”
“Hey!”
Tap!
A small palm touched my back.
“What’s that?”
“?!”
At the familiar voice, I turned around almost reflexively.
“Boss, what were you looking at?”
“...”
A fragrant breeze drifted by.
Under the hot early-summer sunlight, yellow hair swayed softly. Beneath the brim of a baseball cap, a mischievous smile hid half in shadow.
A-yeong was looking at me with bright, curious eyes. And in my hand was the one thing that could only belong to Bigman.
“...”
This was...
Not what I had expected.
*
Seonwoo Taek blinked at Aki.
“...”
“...”
The two of them had met again in front of the convenience store, one day after the last time. Aki had come back, even though it wasn’t her part-time shift.
They fell into silence for a moment.
One sat awkwardly in place, holding a yellow document envelope. The other stood with her hands behind her back, leaning forward slightly to look.
By posture alone, they looked almost friendly.
And yet the silence between them was painfully awkward.
“...”
“...”
Aki was the first to speak.
“You were surprised, weren’t you?”
“...”
“Boss?”
“...”
“Bossss~!”
She tilted her head and waved a hand playfully in front of Seonwoo Taek’s face.
Flap.
Flap.
“...”
His eyes quietly followed the movement of her palm.
Then that same palm touched his damp cheek.
Smack!
Aki jerked back, startled, and snatched her hand away.
“Whoa, you’re sweating.”
“...”
She pulled a yellow handkerchief from her pocket and wiped her hand, then gently patted his cheek, wiping away the sweat there too.
“It’s summer and it’s hot, so why are you sitting outside?”
“I was looking at something.”
“Hee... what is it?”
“Business documents.”
“What kind of business?”
“...”
Seonwoo Taek’s mouth opened and closed slowly. But Aki answered again before he could, sounding oddly defensive.
“Hehe, I know I probably wouldn’t understand even if you told me. Everything you look at seems hard. I was just, just teasing.”
“...”
After hearing that, Seonwoo Taek slowly closed the mouth of the paper envelope. Then, in the same calm tone, he said, “What brings you here?”
“...I came to rest. You said I could come by anytime.”
“...”
“Huh? W-what’s with that reaction?”
Facing Seonwoo Taek’s silence, Aki exaggerated a tearful expression and struck a strange pose, like the running figure on an emergency exit sign. It was overblown, but it was also an attempt to hide her embarrassment.
“S-so should I go back? Sniff...”
“...”
Seonwoo Taek shook his head quietly.
“No. Please go up to the break room and rest comfortably.”
“...”
Silence fell again.
“...”
“...”
The exaggerated smile faded from Aki’s face.
In its place, a faintly lonely expression returned.
“Did I... bother you by coming here all of a sudden? I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to.”
“...”
Seonwoo Taek shook his head again.
“No. I was just a little surprised.”
“You get surprised too, Boss?”
“Yes, I do sometimes.”
“Oh... uh, what surprised you?”
“Just...”
Rustle—
He smoothed the paper envelope in his hands and said, “I didn’t think A-yeong would come back.”
“Why not?”
“It isn’t your part-time shift.”
“You told me to come visit, Boss.”
“...”
After a moment, Seonwoo Taek spoke again, choosing his words carefully, as if he wanted to explain the situation as logically as possible.
“Still, from A-yeong’s point of view.”
“From my p-p-point of view?”
“Wouldn’t it be boring?”
“?”
Aki slowly tipped her head to one side.
“What would?”
“Me.”
“?”
She shook her head back and forth. The summer light flashed across her yellow hair several times.
“No, I think you’re fun.”
“...”
“That’s why I came back.”
“...”
“What about you, Boss?”
“...”
Seonwoo Taek was quiet for a moment. Then he folded the paper envelope a little more and gave a small nod.
“Welcome. Rest here as long as you like. Over there is A-yeong’s space, so you don’t need to ask my permission. I was only surprised, not refusing.”
“!”
A smile bloomed across Aki’s face. For a brief moment, the thought Did I come for no reason? had risen in her, but it melted away under that familiar reaction.
So Boss gets surprised too... I thought he’d be fine with anything, since he always watches stock charts go up and down with a blank face.
Maybe she had teased him a little too much.
Aki quietly made up her mind.
Then I need to come more slowly when I’m around him.
I need to wave so he can see me first...
After that, she went inside the convenience store.
She wanted to apologize for the awkward atmosphere.
When she came back out, she had two ice creams in her hands.
“Ta-da! Yours, Boss! I’m treating you.”
“Thank you.”
The two of them sat side by side at the outdoor table.
“You didn’t have any schedule today, then.”
“Yep! We had a meeting, and there they...! Ah, um... right. Hmm...”
“If it’s company confidential, you don’t have to say it.”
“Ah, yes... thank you for being considerate. S-still! I’ve got really good news.”
“Yes.”
“A cover...”
“...”
Aki opened her mouth, then scratched her head and gave an awkward laugh.
“Uh, can I not say that either? I’m not really sure.”
“If it concerns a collaboration partner, or something your company is still in the middle of pushing internally, it would be better not to mention it.”
“Ah, haha... then I guess I have nothing to say. Ehehe.”
“You don’t need to say anything at all.”
“So I just have to sit here quietly?”
“If that makes you comfortable.”
“...”
She answered, “Thank you.”
“...”
After that, the two of them sat together without saying another word.
Nothing happened.
No event unfolded.
It wasn’t even during her part-time shift.
They were just...
being together.
“...”
“...”
And still, Aki thought quietly to herself.
I’m glad I came.
*
Live viewers: 11,072
A pretty girl with straight black hair and an intelligent look was smiling brightly. Her voice was crisp and clean, almost like an announcer’s, pleasant enough just to listen to.
“You Daniel viewers also thought it was really hot today, right? I stepped out of the house yesterday and immediately went, whew! and realized, ‘Ah, summer’s here.’ And now I’ve even started trying to enjoy the heat.”
“Like this! Sho-shock! I go looking for shade like a ninja, and even the commute to work starts feeling fun. What do you think? Why don’t you Daniel viewers try it too? Sho-shock! Wow! This is fun! Life in Hell Korea is fun—!”
“Oh! Thank you for the donation. ‘Her voice is so nice. Read us a book when we’re feeling lonely, hehehe’... Ah, a book. Nice, I like that. Maybe I should try reading a manga or something sometime? Back in college, I recorded myself reading children’s books, and the response was amazing.”
Even faced with bizarre chat messages, the host did not blink once.
Romantic Drive’s Danhui broadcast had the calm, polished atmosphere of a radio program. That was why viewers who disliked the rough, scrappy style of regular livestreams gathered here instead.
“So, moving on to today’s topic, I have some good news coming up soon...”
And then.
Bigman appeared.
The chat exploded.
And then.
Danhui broke into a cold sweat.
“Uh, uh... eh? Huh? Hm?”
This bastard.
Why is he showing up here?
We haven’t even mentioned the collaboration yet...